Claims by United Kingdom (UK) Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, that Nigerian women cannot pass citizenship to their children have sparked outrage in Nigeria, fuelling long-standing criticism that she distances herself from her country of origin to appeal to the British right.
The UK Conservative Party leader, during an interview with CNN, made claims suggesting that Nigeria’s laws discriminate against women.
“It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship. I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents. I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman,” Kemi said.
“Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK, stay for a relatively free period, and acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naïve,” she added, justifying her tough stance on immigration.
Though considered to be one of the most prominent Black women in British politics today, in Nigeria, the country of her parents, Kemi represents not a source of pride, but a cautionary tale of political ambition detached from ancestral loyalty.
Rights lawyer Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), accused her of peddling falsehoods to curry favour with right-wing voters in the UK.
Presidential aide Dada Olusegun called her out for “continuous attempt to malign Nigeria.”
He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Your children, whether born in Nigeria or abroad, are Nigerian citizens by descent, automatically under Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution. This holds regardless of the father’s nationality.”
Kemi was born in Wimbledon to Nigerian parents, and having spent part of her childhood in Lagos, she has frequently framed Nigeria and, by extension, Africa, as a cautionary tale.
